Figure 8 offers comprehensive investment management, financial planning, and advising services. We focus on investments that deliver financial prosperity, prioritize sustainability, and promote social justice. Our diverse clients include individuals, families, and non-profit organizations seeking a trusted relationship, comprehensive advice, shared values, and the opportunity to create change.

As a Figure 8 client, your engagement would typically include:

• Portfolio of investments actively managed to fit your risk and return objectives, while providing social and environmental alignment and impact

• Investment Policy Statement documenting your long-term financial and social goals

• Quarterly reporting with online access to account statements and reports

• Handling of account transactions including IRA contributions and any required distributions, charitable gifts of securities, and tax reporting

• Annual check-in to review & make any updates to goals, investments, and strategy

Most clients choose Figure 8 for a comprehensive and integrated approach that includes both financial planning and investment management.

Financial planning sets the context for our ongoing relationship. We explore your big picture lifetime goals, impact objectives, and provide an in-depth analysis of needs and resources. With investment management we offer actively managed portfolios comprised primarily of individual stocks and bonds, across a spectrum of equity and balanced account strategies to meet a range of client risk and return objectives.

Our investment strategies are designed to achieve financial returns while effecting future-focused environmental and social change. We tailor strategies to our clients’ objectives, risk tolerance, and timelines. Figure 8 also provides regular reports on your investment portfolio and its performance from financial, social, and environmental perspectives.

Our approach to finding promising long-term investment opportunities involves identifying companies with visionary management, best-in-class practices, and innovation around solving environmental and social challenges. We seek opportunities aligned with big-picture themes around climate change, human capital and decent work, shifting wealth distribution, economic development, demographics and migration, and science and innovation.

We combine this thematic approach with traditional fundamental analysis at the security level, assessing long-term earnings growth, financial strength, and management quality and vision. We invest in growth at a reasonable price, with a strong focus on valuation. At the portfolio level, we focus on asset allocation and diversification across geographies, company size, and economic sectors.

We avoid investments directly involved with areas that present serious risks to people, the planet, and the markets: fossil fuels, tobacco, guns and major weapons systems, and the private prison system.

Our team at Figure 8 believes it is possible to transition to an economy based on justice and sustainability. In our work, we consider the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impacts of every investment opportunity. We work diligently to avoid exposures to enterprises that contribute to environmental and human exploitation.

We build portfolios that fund sustainable, responsible, and impactful ventures by selecting investment opportunities that are future-focused and socially responsible. We frequently include impact investments that directly finance projects and enterprises that provide affordable housing, renewable energy, regenerative agriculture, access to healthcare, and economic development across historically disadvantaged communities.

Figure 8 participates in shareholder activism by collaborating with investor networks to engage with corporate and government leaders, file shareholder resolutions, and vote client proxies on issues including climate action, racial justice, human dignity, and decent work.

For many clients, we focus on financial analyses around planning for retirement, preparing for a career change, or saving for college.

Our work can also be more expansive. We can explore how clients might most effectively redistribute a portion of their wealth, decide whether growth and wealth accumulation are truly the objectives, and allocate money to make reparations for racial inequalities.

A well-structured portfolio integrating ESG factors can provide returns in line with a traditional strategy – in fact, ESG investment strategies show a strong correlation with lower risk. To find takeaways from a meta-analysis of over 1000 studies, visit NYU Stern’s Research Initiative on ESG and Financial Performance.

As a Figure 8 client, you will have a Client Advisory Team with one primary contact to provide ongoing communication and work with you directly; this will be either Lisa Cooper or Travis Stright. Lisa, CFA/CFP, is Figure 8’s founder. She has been in the sustainable investing field for over 30 years. Travis, CFA, has worked over 10 years in portfolio management. Lisa and Travis are supported by the full power of Figure 8’s advising team, a roster filled with value-rich experience and diverse backgrounds. Learn more about the Figure 8 team.

We are upfront, honest, and fair. Figure 8’s annual fees cover ongoing investment management and financial advice and begin at 1% of assets under management, scaling down over larger asset amounts. The minimum annual fee is $5,000. Fees are paid quarterly. We do not have a minimum relationship size and we do not charge performance-based fees. We may charge an additional one-time fee for initial or complex financial planning engagements.

You can connect with us through our secure form, where we ask a few questions about you and your financial situation.

Next, we will schedule an initial meeting to learn more about you, share about Figure 8, and determine if the fit is right. If we mutually agree to work together, we’ll send a proposal for your review. This proposal will contain an outline of how we will work together and the specific services Figure 8 would provide.

Then comes the onboarding process, which includes a detailed inquiry into your goals and values and an analysis of your current financial documents and data. We then work to bring your assets under our management (custodied at Charles Schwab); craft your personalized Investment Policy Statement to guide ongoing decision-making; and identify a timeline to address any specific financial planning needs.

From there, we will provide ongoing investment management and oversight of your investment portfolio. Once your investment portfolio is up and running, we will give you access to an online portfolio reporting system and document vault where you can view your current investments at any time.

Yes, we are! This means that we are legally and ethically required to place client interests first – this gets our highest level of commitment.